Obama’s Presidential Library Will Be Built In Chicago’s South Side

In a news release, the Barack Obama Foundation announced early Tuesday that the library would be erected on park land that was proposed for the site by the University of Chicago. The site was selected over bids made by Columbia University in New York, the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and affect change locally, but what we can also do is to attract the world to Chicago.” Obama said in a video accompanying the release. “All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago. That’s where I was able to apply that early idealism to try to work in communities in public service. That’s where I met my wife. That’s where my children were born.”

The decision was hardly a surprise. The University of Chicago’s bid was long considered a front-runner, and people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press and other media nearly two weeks ago that it was the winner.

Both the president and first lady once worked at the university, and they still maintain a house near campus. Obama taught constitutional law and worked as a community organizer on the South Side. First lady Michelle Obama is a Chicago native and worked as an administrator at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

“Every value, every memory, every important relationship to me exists in Chicago. I consider myself a South Sider,” Michelle Obama said.

Obama building his presidential library on the South Side is very important to the community’s economic growth and a positive motivation for everyone there. Kudos to the president for doing some good in the hood!!!